Indian Ocean should be zone of peace: PM: Call for political settlement in Afghanistan
KARACHI, March 4: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Sunday that the Indian Ocean should not become a theatre for strategic confrontation or a launching pad for domination over Asia, adding that it should become a zone of peace and cooperation.
He was addressing the inaugural session of an international maritime conference entitled “Maritime Threats and Opportunities in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective on the Indian Ocean” at the Bahria University. He said the strategic importance of the Indian Ocean was obvious and could not be denied.
Also in Karachi, speaking at a meeting with members of the American Business Council on late Saturday night, the prime minister called for a political solution to the Afghanistan situation, rather than a military one.
“The military solution at the end of the day cannot help in deriving the needed results,” he said.
The prime minister said that a political approach had to be initiated along with the diplomatic one to resolve the issue.
“That's what we are trying to tell our friends around the world. Please understand the ground realities, please understand the local factor in Afghanistan.”
Mr Aziz said Pakistan was working very hard to fight against terrorism because Pakistan believed that extremism and terrorism were not good for the world.
“We want to cooperate out of conviction with all countries in the world fighting against those forces who are trying to destabilise security of the world. Pakistan is committed to this goal because we believe that safer world is good for our coming generations and the world at large.
“We also want at the same time that ground realities must be understood,” the prime minister said.
At the same time, he said, Pakistan's role needed to be understood. “Occasionally we read statements which reflect that perhaps Pakistan is not doing enough. The world must understand that we are doing a lot,” Mr Aziz said. He said Taliban were just a group of people.
“They are not coming from outer space. They are very much indigenous. Their hearts and minds have to be won. This needs a collective effort,” he noted.
At the seminar on the maritime threats, the prime minister underlined the need for launching efforts to promote bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the Indian Ocean to collectively benefit from its resources and overcome its challenges.
“It has the world's heaviest traffic of petroleum and petroleum products, a huge reservoir of fish and marine life, large reserves of hydro-carbons and beach sands rich in minerals,” the premier said. “Therefore, the Indian Ocean has the potential to become a zone of peace and cooperation which would greatly benefit all countries in the region”.
Mr Aziz said that with all resources and huge potential for international trade, the Indian Ocean was also confronted with several challenges.
“There is a temptation among some to seek strategic domination over the area and there remains the danger of competition and confrontation rather than cooperation in the region.”
He said it was the responsibility of all coastal and hinterland states to work together for sharing the resources of the Indian Ocean.
He said it was also threatened by piracy, smuggling, narcotics trade, human trafficking and other trans-national crimes as well as proliferation of weapons through sea routes.
Mr Aziz said after the events of 9/11, the danger of marine terrorism had also become a growing threat to all countries of the world.—APP
